The Greatness of Lebron James

Last Thursday, LeBron James scored 40 points in leading the Lakers to a 110-102 win over the Trail Blazers in Portland. It was his second game scoring 40 or more points as a 40-year-old, yet another NBA record. James achieved the feat in the 1,542nd regular-season game of his legendary career, passing Vince Carter for number three all-time in regular-season games played.

His coach J. J. Redick lavished praise on James. “He really just defies anything that’s normal. And not just the physical feats and the plays. It’s the mentality.” He’s a billionaire, who was playing in back-to-back games at age 40 after 22 years in the NBA, having already obtained many records and accolades. Redick added, But he practices and plays with great intensity. He’s one of the game’s greatest competitors. Moreover, “He’s amazing to coach. . . . He sets the standard for how you’re supposed to approach this craft. And that’s to me, the most incredible thing.”

As of February 22th, LeBron has 49,828 career points. He is only 172 points away from reaching an incredible 50,000 career points, counting the regular season and playoffs.

In addition, James is in many ways an exemplary human being. Take one example. In December 2019, James accidentally collided with Katy Stevens, a courtside waitress at the Trail Blazers’ arena, sending drinks she was carrying flying to the floor. He stopped in the middle of the game to help her up, checked on her after the game to make sure that she was okay, and walked arm-in-arm with her briefly, an unusual demonstration of compassion from a sports superstar. During pregame warmups in Portland last Thursday, James spotted Stevens and quickly surprised her with a warm embrace. It was yet another display of kindness from a man who has done so much to help his hometown of Akron, Ohio.

For why James should be considered the GOAT of men’s basketball, see The Greatest Sports Stars of All-Time: Fifteen Fantastic Athletes: Smith, Gary Scott: 9798882624100: Amazon.com: Books